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An unmanned cargo aircraft developed by Sichuan Tengden Sci-tech Innovation takes part in a maiden flight at an airport in Zigong, Sichuan province, China, on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 13, 2024

China test-flies biggest cargo drone as low-altitude economy takes off

China's civilian drone makers are testing larger payloads as the government pushes to build a low-altitude economy.
A container-sized cabin produced by Zheng Weirong's company
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 13, 2024

Chinese swap handbags for trips as ‘experience economy’ booms

Consumer spending in China is still constrained by modest income growth and falling home prices, which make homeowners feel less wealthy overall.
The tradition of koromogae, which involves changing storage spaces for clothes according to the season, is becoming less common, largely due to the increasing adoption of Western-style closets that accommodate all clothing year-round.
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2024

Mothball makers innovate amid shrinking market

The market has been diminishing as synthetic fibers, which are resistant to insect damage, have become widely used in clothing.
Elon Musk held a conversation with Donald Trump on the tech mogul’s X platform on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 13, 2024

Musk pitches White House role in glitchy Trump conversation on X

The conversation gave Elon Musk an opening to increase his influence with Donald Trump if the former president returns to power.
Yamakawa Shuppansha president Takeshi Nozawa holds the publisher's textbook on Japanese history — used in high schools across Japan — alongside the new English version in Tokyo on May 23.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 13, 2024

Publisher finds surprise audience after translating history textbooks

The English versions of Yamakawa Shuppansha's iconic textbooks appear to be popular among Japanese businesspeople looking to discuss history with their overseas peers.
The destruction left behind by the Borel Fire near Lake Isabella, California, on July 29
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2024

Wildfires are getting weirder. Case in point: 'firenados.'

Sometimes fire thunderstorms even create their own lightning, which spawns new blazes miles away.
J-pop act Atarashii Gakko! is set to deliver a jubilant performance at Summer Sonic this weekend.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 14, 2024

Summer Sonic bets on a more local lineup

The international music festival seeks to boost attendance figures with more domestic and Asian acts such as Atarashii Gakko!, Number_i and Creepy Nuts.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 14, 2024

Kishida to step down in September in bid to show ‘LDP has changed’

The surprise move came amid growing criticism from rank-and-file party members and bad poll numbers.
People walk past a banner with a picture of late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a street in Tehran on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 14, 2024

Only Gaza cease-fire can delay Iran's Israel response, Iranian officials say

Iran, along with allies such as Hezbollah, could launch a direct attack if the Gaza talks fail or it perceives Israel is dragging out negotiations.
Following the Paris Olympics, two swimming pools, the climbing wall and the skateboard parks are set to be dug out and moved — most of them to the poverty-stricken Seine-Saint-Denis suburb northeast of Paris.
OLYMPICS
Aug 14, 2024

Olympics infrastructure and equipment heads for 'second life' post-Games

Over decades, the world's biggest sporting event has forged a reputation for monumental waste, but Paris organizers are hoping to change that.
Health minister Keizo Takemi fields questions from reporters in March after a Cabinet meeting to deal with health problems caused by Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's beni kōji red yeast rice supplements.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 14, 2024

Health Minister Keizo Takemi on how to improve Japan's health care system

Digitalization, hiring high-skilled foreign workers and increasing wages are among the steps that Japan could take.
Paris Saint-Germain forward Goncalo Ramos (right) celebrates with teammates after scoring in a preseason friendly against Germany's RB Leipzig on Saturday.
SOCCER
Aug 14, 2024

Ligue 1 begins post-Mbappe era further weakened after TV rights fiasco

League grapples with a loss of star power as its TV deal falls further beyond other European leagues.
Philippine Defense Minister Gilberto Teodoro (right) speaks during a joint press conference with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius at a hotel in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines, on Aug. 4.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 14, 2024

Manila looks beyond Asia for defense support

Germany is the latest Western power to announce plans to deepen security ties with the Philippines amid Manila's escalating territorial disputes with China.
Naomi Osaka reaches for a ball during her loss to Elise Mertens at the WTA Tour stop in Toronto last week.
TENNIS
Aug 14, 2024

Naomi Osaka perplexed by power struggles after Cincinnati setback

The 26-year-old was beaten by Ashlyn Krueger in the second round of qualifying for the Cincinnati Open, the latest setback in a patchy run of form.
Students at the University of British Columbia during the first week of classes in Vancouver, Canada
WORLD / Politics
Aug 14, 2024

Global immigration crackdown ensnares students studying abroad

Aggregate visa data for the first quarter of 2024 showed volumes to the U.K., Canada and Australia down between 20% and 30% from a year earlier.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida leaves at the end of a news conference, in which he announced he is stepping down, at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 14, 2024

Kishida's shock announcement shakes already unsettled Japanese markets

The prime minister's decision to step down follows the Bank of Japan's surprise rate hike just two weeks earlier.
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin in Bangkok on Aug. 14
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 14, 2024

Thai court dismisses prime minister over cabinet appointment

Real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin becomes the fourth Thai premier in 16 years to be removed by verdicts by the same court.
A return to the world with interest will almost certainly mean an increase in the bifurcation of Japan's haves and have-nots.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 5, 2024

Is Japan ready for a ‘world with interest?’

Ever since Ueda arrived at the central bank 15 months ago, economists have been debating what the "world with interest” will look like.
A ward for heatstroke patients at a hospital in Chennai, India, in May. The country experienced a severe heat wave over the spring and summer, raising concerns about the long-term impact of climate change-induced extreme heat on human health.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 2024

Climate change: A health emergency in the making

Global warming's impact on health is an increasingly urgent issue — just look at excess deaths caused by extreme heat. But are health care systems well-equipped enough?
Henry VIII had to deal with xenophobic mobs in England too — and he did so harshly and imperfectly. But there’s an abiding lesson to be learned.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 2024

The U.K. riots and an evil day 500 years ago in London

The enmity focused on the foreign-born may have been sparked by misinformation, but that doesn’t disguise the fact that the tinder was waiting to be lit in Britain.
Srettha Thavisin in Bangkok on Wednesday. He became the fourth Thai prime minister to be ousted by the Constitutional Court in the past two decades.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 15, 2024

Thai political upheaval shows royalists still firmly in charge

The difference this time is that former leader Thaksin Shinawatra is now in an alliance with his former conservative adversaries as part of a deal struck last year.
Christian Musema, a laboratory nurse, takes a sample from a child declared a suspected case mpox — an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus that spark-off a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever; at the the treatment center near Goma, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on July 19.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 15, 2024

WHO calls mpox outbreak in Africa a global health emergency

The WHO last called mpox a public health emergency of international concern in May 2022
A F-18 jet lands on the runway of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military exercises about 160 kilometers south of Oahu, Hawaii, on July 19.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 15, 2024

U.S. Navy's newest long range missile could shift balance in South China Sea

The AIM-174B can fly several times farther than alternatives, does not require new production lines, and is compatible with Australian aircraft.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s decision to step down as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader has thrown the race for his successor into uncertainty.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 15, 2024

Kishida’s resignation opens the door to a chaotic era

With Fumio Kishida's resignation, the LDP faces a crucial election next month with no clear front-runner to become its next leader.
Bales of hard-to-recycle plastic waste piled up at Renewlogy Technologies in Salt Lake City, Utah, on May 17, 2021.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Aug 15, 2024

In shift, U.S. backs global target to reduce plastic production, source says

The change away from earlier calls to leave such decisions up to each country puts the U.S. in direct opposition to countries like Saudi Arabia and China.
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Aug. 8
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 15, 2024

Hedge funds race to tailor ChatGPT for time-consuming research chores

Fast-money proponents remain steadfast in their conviction that their investments will reap tangible wins.
Considering there is another full year left before the current term of the Lower House expires, Fumio Kishida’s announcement he is standing down as the Liberal Democratic Party's leader has many wondering why.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 15, 2024

With Kishida’s sudden departure, who will lead Japan?

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s unexpected decision to not seek reelection has prompted a leadership race within Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi visits Yasukuni Shrine on Thursday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 15, 2024

Kishida clears the way for ministers to campaign in LDP election

Prospective candidates are weighing whether they can gather the necessary endorsements and rake in enough votes to have a decent shot at winning.
The beauty of 'kaiseki' (Japanese haute cuisine), chef Shinichiro Takagi says, is that it represents the best elements of Japan's culinary traditional all working in tandem.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 18, 2024

Shinichiro Takagi sees a way forward for fine dining in Japan

The two-Michelin-starred chef sees two ways forward for fine dining in Japan: fostering domestic talent and adapting to international diners.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is no stranger to using creative ideas in a bid to motivate his players.
SOCCER
Aug 16, 2024

Arsenal aims to pick Manchester City's pockets in title race

Arteta's side suffered an agonizing end to last season as City pipped Arsenal to the trophy by just two points on the final day.

Longform

Wealthier women in the prewar era had been the targets of various media-related health campaigns that mistakenly encouraged them to avoid everything from riding bicycles to reading novels when their monthly cycles came around.
Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly